Penumbra Ocean
by UnluckyAmulet
Summary: Aryll waits for her big brother in the Forbidden Fortress. But she can't help thinking back to the strange man in the tower...


Disclaimer: I do nowt own Zelda, blah blah blahdy blah.

So this story has been hovering around wordpad purgatory for a while now, and I finally got around to writing an ending for it! This is yet another fic in my Wind Waker story collection, and probably the longest. Rated K+ for some mild suspense.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Big Brother!"

Aryll's screams soon died in her mouth. Her throat was raw, her head was pounding and fatigue seemed to wash over her in waves, matching the ocean beneath her. Outset Island had quickly vanished from view, the expression on her brother's face the last thing Aryll saw each time she blinked. It was like a horrible nightmare come to life. This was the stuff that stories were made of, stories told around the fire late at night to scare little children into behaving.

_Don't wonder into the forest, my dears._ Aryll could hear her Grandmother's voice saying; _Or a giant bird will snatch you away, never to be seen again._

The bird's wings pounded in a steady beat as they flew on. Its entire talon was wrapped around her body, pinning her arms to her sides. Had they been free, she would have been desperately tearing to be free, possibly taking out a few feathers if she could manage it.

Despite these obstacles, Aryll continued to wriggle around, even though she was aware of the grip the bird had over her whole body. The little blonde had no idea where they were going, but it was steadily growing dark. That, strangely, was one of the things that scared her the most. In daylight, she could at least see where they were going, even if she didn't recognise where. At night, she was totally at this, this...monster's mercy.

The ocean seemed colder and more forbidding at night, and Aryll wasn't a particularly strong swimmer. She much preferred jumping from the huge stepping stones from one section of the island to the other, enjoying the sound her sandals made as they slapped against the stone. There was no way she could swim to an island in the dark if the bird let go. She'd be easy prey for any swimming predator that spotted her.

"Hey you! Big bird! Where are we going?" she called, sounding much braver then she felt.

...And Aryll was a _tiny_ bit afraid of the dark as well.

But just as that thought crossed her mind, Aryll's wandering gaze picked something up. Squinting, she could make out a few yellow lights in the distance, looking like the eyes of some giant celestial cat in the darkness.

_Land!_

Aryll's spirits rose, although she was a little puzzled as to why the bird was headed right for it. She could hear its colossal wings flapping with more urgency than before. Surely it realised that on land she could easily esca-

_Oh, no._

Aryll's blood suddenly ran cold. This place...Grandma had told her stories about it, in hushed tones. Once, when she had asked Quill, the postman, he had told her its name and why it had such a ghastly reputation. None of the stories ended well.

_Oh, please, no. No. Please._

"No..." Aryll gasped, the name of this place suddenly flickering into her mind. Forsaken Fortress. "NO! Don't take me there...please...anywhere but there!"

The bird didn't reply, but Aryll thought that for a moment its grip tightened, just a little bit. Was it threatening her to not make a fuss? Or was it trying to comfort her? Aryll wasn't sure. She hardly could tell if the bird could even _think_ much, or if it was just following animal instincts.

The fortress loomed ever closer, and Aryll could see why such ominous rumours circled it. Anchors creaked a little in the wind, swaying almost menacingly in the breeze. The walls of the place were grey, sickly grey. Searchlights pointed in every direction, lighting up little patches of inky blue sky, searching. Random squares of light glared out through the windows, the brightest being a strange ship-like structure at the very top of this construction. The rest of the rooms Aryll could make out seemed to be carved into the very stone itself. A gargantuan nest sat to the left of the structure, presumably where the bird was planning to land.

Land, and then what?

...Eat her?

"Let me go!" Aryll suddenly shrieked, suddenly twisting and thrashing about as the bird's wings stopped flapping and it began to glide, apparently heading around the back of the Fortress. "Let go! I am NOT your supper! No! No!"

Obviously, it ignored her, but its grip loosened a little bit. Aryll blinked. She _definitely_ hadn't imagined that.

A sudden cry issued from below her, and Aryll twisted around to peer below her.

Seagulls.

A flock of them had followed her! Aryll was surprised to feel tears stinging her eyes. They had followed her! There wasn't much they could do against such a huge creature, but the fact that they had willingly flown after this demonic bird just to be near her...Aryll couldn't help a few tears of both gratitude and pity well up in her eyes. She blinked them back, determined that she would not cry. No matter what, she had to be strong. Big Brother would have been strong in this situation, and so would she.

But all of sudden, the bird seemed to be finally trying to get her attention. Looking up, Aryll caught its huge yellow eye briefly staring at her before it lifted its head again. They seemed to be slowing down now, but they still hadn't reached the nest.

What was going on?

_Whoosh._

The bird stopped, and suddenly dropped in altitude. Aryll couldn't help letting out a little gasp at the sudden plummeting motion icy air whipping past her face, but the strange notion that the bird was NOT going to eat her now seemed to be suddenly less strange.

"My big brother's going to come and rescue me!" Aryll called up to it loudly, feeling as though if she said it, then it would happen. "He will!"

The bird had gone oddly quiet. No, more than that. There was a complete silence. Only the sounds of the ocean below and the seagulls cries seemed to register, as the bird was beating its wings with just enough force to keep it upright. Aryll's gaze travelled upwards.

On what looked like a balcony that looked out at the sea, somebody was standing there. Aryll didn't know why, but upon looking at the figure, goosebumps began to break out on her arms. It had not moved, but a strange, primal urge was telling her to get away, to run, to hide. She shivered, and then all of a sudden, she felt the bird shift again-

It let go of her.

Aryll almost screamed, but her fall didn't last long enough. Instead, her left arm was suddenly raised and she herself was dangling above the wooden floorboards of the balcony. Dizzy from the sudden shift in altitude, Aryll did not struggle as she might have done if she weren't so confused. The grip on her wrist was firm, but it didn't hurt. Looking tentatively up, Aryll's view of the man's face was blocked by a large black sleeve, but she could see the hand that held her up in the air was a strange, moss-like colour.

There was a very long pause, as though the cloaked figure was waiting for something to happen. Nothing did, but Aryll was slowly beginning to regain her senses and even more of her fear. The figure relinquished its hold, and Aryll fell back down, trembling, her knees betraying her as she collapsed onto the wooden planks, trembling all over, although she hadn't been as high up from the ground as much as she had first thought. She didn't dare look up, but she wasn't sure why.

The bird-thing let out a shriek, cocking its enormous head to one side. It looked like it was asking the Shadow Man permission to do something. But that was impossible, surely? It was just a giant bird, after all. But, then, why had it taken her all this way if it wasn't to eat her? Aryll suddenly noticed that the bird had a mask on its feathery face. It was spooky, and Aryll was amazed she hadn't paid it attention before, but she had been too preoccupied with figuring out where they were going.

Then, the Shadow Man spoke.

"No." he said, and just that word caused a shudder to wrack through Aryll's tiny frame.

What did that mean? Was she of no use to this man, whatever he wanted? Would he have her killed now? Did that pirate girl have something that he wanted and she didn't? Would she now become bird food?

The bird cawed loudly, and Aryll flinched, tempted to slap her hands over her ears, but she found she couldn't move.

"She isn't the one." decreed the Shadow Man, heavily. He sounded so old, like he was as old as the ocean below them. "You. Put her with the others."

Aryll let out a gasp as she found herself being hauled upright and pulled out of the room. She let out a horrified squeal when her foggy brain alerted her to the fact a monster that looked like a green pig that had learnt to walk on its hind legs was carrying her as easily as if she weighed no more than a ragdoll.

She resumed the frantic thrashing that she had with the bird, and although the green-skinned pig creature was much smaller than the bird, it paid little attention to Aryll's exertions aside from an annoyed grunt and holding her more tightly. A golden necklace glinted around its fat neck, and Aryll found herself staring at it in fascination.

The pig descended with Aryll down, down, down a spiral walkway. They seemed to be heading to a holding room. Aryll licked her lips nervously and tasted salt on them. She and the bird must have been flying for a long time. She was a bit surprised she hadn't fainted along the way.

Without warning, Aryll suddenly was shoved roughly into a cell. She tripped and landed on her front with an "Oof!"

Distantly, she thought she heard the pig-guard laughing, and suddenly feeling angry again, she got to her feet and spun around, gripping the wooden bars between her hands.

"Just you wait!" she shouted at the pig. "When my big brother gets here, you'll be sorry!"

"Yeah, right." A voice said behind her.

Turning, Aryll blushed slightly when she noticed two other girls huddled in the cell with her. One of them looked like a princess, like something out of a storybook, with an extravagant pink dress on and crystal-like jewels embedded in her blonde hair. The second girl...well, she looked just the opposite. She peered at Aryll gloomily beneath a mop of auburn hair.

"Who are you?" Aryll found herself asking.

"I am Mila." The blonde girl informed her, haughtily.

For some reason, Aryll got the impression she did _everything_haughtily.

"Maggie." Mumbled the second girl, not making eye contact.

"I'm Aryll." Aryll introduced herself. "So...what happened? Why have we been taken to this horrible place?"

"At first I thought it was because of my father," sniffed Mila. "He's very rich, so naturally I assumed I was kidnapped because someone wanted his gold. But apparently not!"

She sniffed, as though insulted by their captor's lack of interest in her money.

"But Maggie here doesn't have a Rupee to her name," Mila went on, nodding to the second girl. "So that can't be it."

"I heard the guards talking..." Maggie mumbled. Aryll was surprised to hear the guards _could_talk. "He's looking for someone. A girl with pointy ears."

"What girl?" Aryll and Mila chimed, together.

"Don't know." Maggie said, looking uncomfortable at the attention. "But until he finds her, we're stuck here. My father is too poor to get anyone to help us."

"Don't worry!" Aryll said, as Maggie's bottom lip trembled. "My big brother is coming, and he'll definitely save us!"

"Oh really? How do you know that?" Milo asked, sniffing.

"Because he's my big brother!" Aryll answered, simply. "He's the bravest person I've ever known. He'll come."

Neither Mila nor Maggie looked like they believed Aryll, but she didn't mind. They'd see for themselves. Link would never let somebody take his little sister away, and she knew it. All she had to do was be strong until he came for her.

Outside, the seagulls cawed. They could not enter the cage, but Aryll was cheered to know that her feathered friends had followed her even to this place. Surely that was a good omen.

As Aryll curled up on a pile of straw to sleep, her thoughts drifted towards the strange man, even though when she had been kneeling on the balcony she could hardly even look at him. So many questions swirled around her mind, but she had no answers for any of them. Why was he looking for a pointy-eared girl? Why had he decided to keep the three of them locked away in the fortress instead of feeding them to that bird? Who was he?

Aryll closed her eyes, the dim lighting in the room making shadows dance across her eyelids as she drifted into an uneasy sleep, lulled by the sound of the ocean and the cry of the gulls.

* * *

You know the drill, if you liked, review! :D


End file.
